Later Than Ever Before
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
Luke 21:27
A little girl heard a clock strike thirteen times. Breathlessly she ran to her mother and said, “Mother, it’s later than it’s ever been before.” Almost everyone throughout the world will agree. It’s later than it’s ever been before. The human race is rushing madly toward some sort of climax, and the Bible accurately predicts what the climax is! A new world is coming. Through modern technology and scientific achievement we are catching glimpses of what that new world is. If it were not for depraved human nature, man could achieve it himself. But man’s rebellion against God has always been his stumbling block. The penalty for man’s rebellion is death. The best leaders and the best brains have many times been stopped by death. The Bible teaches that “it is appointed unto men once to die” (Hebrews 9:27). Today the world longs for a leader such as Abraham Lincoln—but death took him from us.
God will use the angels to merge time into eternity, creating a new kind of life for every creature. Even today’s intellectual world speaks of a point when time will be no more. Most scientists agree that the clock of time is running out. Ecologically, medically, scientifically, morally, time seems to be running out. In almost every direction we look, man’s time on earth seems to be running out. Self-destruction is overtaking us as a human race.
Will man destroy himself? No! God has another plan!
That plan was inaugurated at the first coming of Jesus Christ. It will be completed at His Second Coming! You and I as Christians can look forward to that climactic event with joyous anticipation!
Our Father and our God, when You come again, please receive me unto Yourself. Send Your angels to translate me from earth to heaven. I wait with open arms for death, which I know is the door to eternity. Until then, I will live my life to the fullest for You. Through Jesus, the One who died so that I might live. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
To Busy To Pray
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
Romans 12:12 NIV
Here are some thoughts on prayer.
In the morning, prayer is the key that opens to us the treasures of God’s mercies and blessings; in the evening, it is the key that shuts us up under His protection and safeguard.
“God’s way of answering the Christian’s prayer for more patience, experience, hope, and love is often to put him into the furnace of affliction.”—Richard Cecil (1748–1810)
“Our prayer and God’s mercy are like two buckets in a well; while the one ascends, the other descends.”—Mark Hopkins, American educator (1802–1887)
My longtime friend, that great humanitarian missionary and man of prayer Frank C. Laubuch, said, “Prayer at its highest is a two-way conversation—and for me the most important is listening to God’s replies.”
“Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees.”—William Cowper (1731–1800)
G. Campbell Morgan tells the following story:
A father and his young daughter were great friends and much in each other’s company. Then the father noted a change in his daughter. If he went for a walk, she excused herself from going. He grieved about it, but could not understand. When his birthday came, she presented him with a pair of exquisitely worked slippers, saying, “I have made them for you.”
Then he understood what had been the matter for the past three months, and he said, “My darling, I like these slippers very much, but next time buy the slippers and let me have you all the days. I would rather have my child than anything she can make for me.”
Some of us are so busy for the Lord that He cannot get much of us. To us He would say, “I know your works, your labor, your patience, but I miss the first love.” (Revelation 2:2–4)
If there are any tears shed in heaven, they will be over the fact that we prayed so little.
Our Father and our God, forgive this child of Yours for neglecting to talk to You more often. I love You, Father, and I want to be in constant conversation with You. Bless me with a vision of eternity so that I don’t get so mesmerized by the details of today. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Mandate to Pray
Men ought always to pray, and not to faint.
Luke 18:1
We don’t have to think that our prayers are bouncing off the ceiling. The living Christ is sitting at the right hand of God the Father. God the Son retains the same humanity He took to save us and is now living in a body that still has nail prints in its hands. He is our great High Priest, interceding for us with God the Father.
The resurrection presence of Christ gives us power to live our lives day by day and to serve Him. “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these will he do; because I go to My Father” (John 14:12 NKJV).
The resurrected body of Jesus is the design for our bodies when we are raised from the dead also. No matter what afflictions, pain, or distortions we have in our earthly bodies, we will be given new bodies. What a glorious promise of things to come! “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform our lowly body to be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able to subdue all things to Himself ” (Philippians 3:20–21 NKJV).
Our Father and our God, I come to You in the name of the resurrected Jesus to praise and glorify You for Your mighty works. I am excited to claim my citizenship in heaven, Lord, and to be with You forever. Keep me walking with Jesus every day of my life, for He is the only Way to You, and through Him I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Carried By The Angels
And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom.
Luke 16:22
In telling the story in Luke 16 Jesus says that the beggar was “carried by the angels.” He was not only escorted; he was carried. What an experience that must have been for Lazarus! He had lain begging at the gate of the rich man until his death, but then suddenly he found himself carried by the mighty angels of God!
Another beautiful account of this kind comes from the life of Stephen (Acts 6:8–7:60). In a powerful sermon Stephen declared that even unbelievers “received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it” (Acts 7:53). When he had finished his discourse, Stephen saw the glory of God and Jesus at the Father’s right hand. Immediately his enemies stoned him to death, and he was received into heaven. Even as the angels escorted Lazarus when he died, so we can assume that they escorted Stephen; and so they will escort us when by death we are summoned into the presence of Christ. We can well imagine what Stephen’s abundant entrance to heaven was like as the anthems of the heavenly host were sung in rejoicing that the first Christian martyr had come home to receive a glorious welcome and to gain the crown of a martyr.
Hundreds of accounts record the heavenly escort of angels at death. When my maternal grandmother died, for instance, the room seemed to fill with a heavenly light. She sat up in bed and almost laughingly said, “I see Jesus. He has His arms outstretched toward me. I see Ben [her husband who had died some years earlier] and I see the angels.” She slumped over, absent from the body but present with the Lord. What a glorious experience for the believer!
Our Father and our God, I look forward to the day when You will send Your angels to carry me home to You. I can’t imagine what that experience will be like. Help me to be prepared for that day, O Lord, and to die with the grace and confidence of someone who is a fellow heir with Christ Jesus. In His matchless name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The New Puritanism
She calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Luke 15:9–10 RSV
While angels will play an important role in executing the judgment of God on those who refuse Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the Bible tells us that they also rejoice in the salvation of sinners. Jesus tells several striking stories in Luke 15. In the first, a man had a hundred sheep. When one was lost, he left the ninety-nine in the wilderness to seek it. When he found the sheep, he slung it over his own shoulders and brought it back to the fold. At home he summoned all his friends saying, “Rejoice with me: for I have found my sheep which was lost” (v. 6). Jesus said, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (v. 7).
His second story is that of a women who lost a valuable silver coin. She looked everywhere. She swept her house carefully. At last when she recovered the coin she called all her friends and neighbors saying, “Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost” (v. 9). “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).
In these two parables is not Jesus telling us that the angels of heaven have their eyes on every person? They know the spiritual condition of everybody on the face of the earth. Not only does God love you, but the angels love you too. They are anxious for you to repent and turn to Christ for salvation before it is too late. They know the terrible dangers of hell that lie ahead. They want you to turn toward heaven, but they know that this is a decision that you and you alone will have to make. What is your relationship to the Lord?
Isn’t it comforting to know that, no matter how alone we may feel, God’s angels are watching over us?
Our Father and our God, Your mercies, kindnesses, and care overwhelm me. I am so humbled by Your constant attention and gentle dealing with me. My life is Yours to direct, Lord. Keep me safe and ever near You. I can’t make it without You. Help me to walk heart-in-heart with Jesus. In His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Angels Rejoice
She calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, “Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.” Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Luke 15:9–10 RSV
While angels will play an important role in executing the judgment of God on those who refuse Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the Bible tells us that they also rejoice in the salvation of sinners. Jesus tells several striking stories in Luke 15. In the first, a man had a hundred sheep. When one was lost, he left the ninety-nine in the wilderness to seek it. When he found the sheep, he slung it over his own shoulders and brought it back to the fold. At home he summoned all his friends saying, “Rejoice with me: for I have found my sheep which was lost” (v. 6). Jesus said, “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance” (v. 7).
His second story is that of a women who lost a valuable silver coin. She looked everywhere. She swept her house carefully. At last when she recovered the coin she called all her friends and neighbors saying, “Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost” (v. 9). “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:10).
In these two parables is not Jesus telling us that the angels of heaven have their eyes on every person? They know the spiritual condition of everybody on the face of the earth. Not only does God love you, but the angels love you too. They are anxious for you to repent and turn to Christ for salvation before it is too late. They know the terrible dangers of hell that lie ahead. They want you to turn toward heaven, but they know that this is a decision that you and you alone will have to make. What is your relationship to the Lord?
Isn’t it comforting to know that, no matter how alone we may feel, God’s angels are watching over us?
Our Father and our God, Your mercies, kindnesses, and care overwhelm me. I am so humbled by Your constant attention and gentle dealing with me. My life is Yours to direct, Lord. Keep me safe and ever near You. I can’t make it without You. Help me to walk heart-in-heart with Jesus. In His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Discipleship
For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost?
Luke 14:28
A generation ago, Jim Elliot went from Wheaton College to become a missionary to the Aucas in Ecuador. Before he was killed, he wrote, “He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
The Christian faith brings its own “blood, sweat, and tears” to those who would follow Jesus Christ. Christ calls us to discipleship. When we come to Him, He takes away one set of burdens—the burden of sin, the burden of guilt, the burden of separation from God, the burden of hopelessness. But He also calls upon us to “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” (Matthew 11:29). It is not a yoke that is too heavy for us to bear, for Christ bears it with us: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).
Nevertheless, Christ calls us to follow Him, regardless of the cost, and He has never promised that our path will always be smooth. There is no life that is without its own set of burdens. I have chosen Christ, not because He takes away my pain, but because He gives me strength to cope with that pain, and in the long range to realize victory over it. Corrie ten Boom said, “The worst can happen, but the best remains.”
The late Dr. Walter L. Wilson once said, “God is more interested in making us what He wants us to be than giving us what we ought to have.” Is that the way I’m living my life?
Our Father and our God, take away my burden of guilt and shame caused by my sins. And place on me Your servant’s yoke. Let me walk through life yoked to Your Son, Jesus, for I know that with Him by my side I cannot fail. In His Name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Highest Calling
So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Luke 14:33
If I leave my room in the morning without my quiet time, my day is all wrong, my ministry curtailed. I have no close walk, no intimate fellowship with Christ.
We need to have our time of prayer, our time of Bible reading, and above all discipline our minds. The Bible says much about the mind. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” We should make it a habit to center our minds on the Person of Christ.
Let Him take your tongue and nail it to the cross. The Scripture says that we smite with the tongue. “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell” (James 3:6). Take this little muscle of yours in your mouth and nail it to the cross.
Take those eyes of yours and say with Job, “I’ve made a covenant with my eyes.” Make a list of every area of your life and say, “Oh, Lord, by Thy grace, I reckon myself dead indeed unto sin, I nail these things to the cross, I identify myself with Thee at the cross.” That is what the Scripture means when it says, “But if by the Spirit you put to death decisively the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Romans 8:13).
Do you know what Lenin said about a Communist? He said, “A Communist is a dead man on furlough.” That’s exactly what we ought to be for Jesus Christ—men and women who are living disciplined lives, men and women who are following Christ in a Spirit-filled life. The Spirit-filled life produces the fruit of the Spirit. Having had your heart cleansed by the blood of Christ, having submitted and yielded every area of your life to Him, you can claim by faith to be filled with the Spirit.
When the Standard Oil Company was looking for a representative in the Far East, they approached a missionary and offered him $10,000. He turned down the offer. They raised it to $25,000, and he turned it down again. They raised it to $50,000 and he rejected it once more.
“What’s wrong?” they asked.
He replied, “Your price is all right, but your job is too small.” God had called him to be a missionary, and that was the highest calling.
Our Father and our God, I recognize that being Your child is the greatest honor in life. I present myself as a living sacrifice to live and to serve for Your good pleasure. May my life be a sweet-smelling aroma to You because of my relationship to Jesus Christ and because of His sacrifice for me. In His name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Work Instead of Worry
Think of the ravens. They do not sow or reap . . . yet God feeds them. And how much more are you worth than the birds! . . . think of the flowers; they never spin nor weave; yet, I assure you not even Solomon . . . was robed like one of these. Now if that is how God clothes the grass in the field . . . how much more will he look after you, you men of little faith!
Luke 12:24–28 JB
Jesus did not say that we were not to be industrious, for birds are very industrious. They arise early in the morning and go out to collect the provisions that God has supplied. The flowers flourish and are beautifully clothed, but their roots reach down deep to tap the resources that God has put into the ground for their enrichment.
The birds remind us that food should not be our chief concern and the lilies show us that worrying over appearance does not make us beautiful. Domestic fowls and flowers are protected by human hands, but wild ones such as those described here are cared for by God Himself.
Two conflicting forces cannot exist in one human heart. When doubt reigns, faith cannot abide. Where hatred rules, love is crowded out. Where selfishness rules, there love cannot dwell. When worry is present, trust cannot crowd its way in.
The very best prescription for banishing worry is found in Psalm 37:5: “Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.” The word commit means to turn over to, to entrust completely.
Think of the things you do not worry about. Perhaps you never worry about whether you will be able to get water out of the faucet in your kitchen, or maybe you do not worry about a tree falling on your house.
Now ask yourself why you do not worry about such things. Is it because, in the case of running water, that it has always been there every time you wanted it, or that a tree has never fallen on your house before? Certainty breeds trust, doesn’t it?
We can be just as certain and just as worry-free about God’s love, protection, and provision because He has never gone back on a single one of His promises. He never changes. Great is His faithfulness.
Our Father and our God, I trust You to provide for me and to protect me. I commit my life, my heart, and my work to You. Please use then in whatever way You see fit to glorify You. Great is Your faithfulness toward us, O Lord. Increase my faith, and help me to let go of my worries and frustrations. Through Christ, the One who gives peace. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Dare To Be Different
If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Some years ago it was my privilege to speak in the beautiful gothic chapel at West Point. The chapel was filled, and those young people listened earnestly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As I looked out upon those determined, dedicated young faces, who are the cream of American youth, I could not help but think of Jesus’ disciples—He made it tough, hard, and rugged to follow Him. He talked about self-denial, cross-bearing, persecution, and even death. He said, “If you are not willing to endure these things, then you are not worthy to be My follower.”
While our nation is involved with an increase of crime, immorality, adultery, drunkenness, irreverence, infidelity, and open apostasy, millions of professing Christians have forgotten the Word of Scripture that says, “If any man would follow me, let him take up his cross daily.”
Our Lord regarded His followers as a select company who belonged to a different world from other men. Many of the religious people of His day were worldlings, dressed in religious garb that belonged to this world—a world ruled by the prince of darkness, a world dominated by pride, ambition, hate, jealousy, greed, and falsehood. He warned the disciples to be loyal to His teachings and principles. He told them that they were to set their affection on things above.
He also warned them that they would find things exceedingly difficult. Refusing to conform to worldly principles and practices, and living under the lordship of Christ, they would soon become marked men. He told them that the world would hate them.
They could not make their light shine by sinking to the world’s low level. It was only by abiding in Christ and living under the ruling power of His Holy Spirit that they could elevate the world. The power and progress of the Christian society would depend on its unlikeness to the world and its likeness to Jesus Christ. It was this very reason that the distinction between the lives of those who lived for this world and those who lived for Christ was so clear that a very deep impression was made on the pagan society of the first century in which the early Christians lived. They influenced thousands to embrace the Christian faith because they outthought, outlived, and outloved their neighbors. We Christians should dare to be different!
Our Father and our God, bless me with the ability to live a distinct lifestyle in my world. Help me to stand out as morally chaste, truthful, honest, fair, compassionate, and caring. And if I must face ridicule for being like Jesus, then so be it. I would rather suffer with Him, than live without Him. In His name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Importance of Prayer
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16 NIV
Jesus considered prayer more important than food, for the Bible says that hours before breakfast, “very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed” (Mark 1:35 NIV).
To the Son of God, prayer was more important than the assembling and the healing of great throngs. The Bible says, “Crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed” (Luke 5:15–16 NIV).
The precious hours of fellowship with His Heavenly Father meant much more to our Savior than sleep, for the Bible says, “Jesus went out into the hills to pray, and spent the night praying to God” (Luke 6:12 NIV).
He prayed at funerals, and the dead were raised. He prayed over the five loaves and two fishes, and fed a multitude with a little boy’s lunch. In the contemplation of His imminent suffering on Calvary’s cross He prayed, “Not my will, but yours” (Luke 22:42 NIV) and a way was made whereby sinful man might approach a holy God.
Prayer, in the true sense, is not a futile cry of desperation born of fear and frustration. Many people pray only when they are under great stress, or in danger, or facing some crisis. I have been in airplanes when an engine died, then people started praying. I have flown through bad thunderstorms when people who may never have thought to pray before were praying all around me. I have talked to soldiers who told me that they never prayed until they were in the midst of battle. There seems to be an instinct in man to pray in times of danger.
We know “there are few atheists in foxholes,” but that kind of Christianity fails to reach into our everyday lives, and it is too shallow to be genuine.
Christian teachers down through the ages have urged the prominence that prayer should have in the lives of believers. Some anonymous wise man has said, “If Christians spent as much time praying as they do grumbling, they would soon have nothing to grumble about.”
Our Father and our God, thank You for the precious avenue of prayer. I take great comfort in being able to talk to You continually. It is my joy to know that You are ever-present and attentive to my needs and concerns. Help me to be vigilant in prayer and praise to You and Your Son, Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Answers to Prayers
What things soever ye desire, when ye prayer, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.
Mark 11:24
One lesson that Jesus would teach us is the victorious assurance that God answers every true petition. Skeptics may question it, humanists may deny it, and intellectuals ridicule it. Yet here is Christ’s own promise: “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you” (John 15:7). Trust that promise with all your soul.
Your Father possesses everything. He “shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Let His Holy Spirit help you in your prayer life just as He promised in Romans 8:27: “he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
With God nothing is impossible. No task is too arduous, no problem is too difficult, no burden is too heavy for His love. The future, with its tears and uncertainties, is fully revealed to Him.
He understands how much affliction and sorrow you need in order that your soul may be purified and preserved for eternity. Turn to Him, and you can say with Job, “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). No, we are not the masters of our own souls. We must not put our will above God’s will. We must not insist on our own way or dictate to God. Rather, we must learn the difficult lesson of praying as the sinless Son of God Himself prayed, “Not my will, but thine, be done.”
The Scripture says that the one mediator between God and man is Jesus Christ. We must know Him, and we must pray in His name. Our prayers must be directed according to the will of God, and the Holy Spirit will do that for us.
Our Father and our God, I praise Your mighty name for these things You have done for me . . . I know that nothing is too difficult for You. You can save the lost, raise the dead, and heal the hurting. Now, in the name of Jesus, I claim Your promise that You will do these things I ask. Amen
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Sensitive to the Suffering
For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Mark 10:45 RSV
Years ago our son Franklin spent some days on a boat in the South China Sea searching for boats of people fleeing the oppressive regime on Vietnam. On board, Ha Jimmy, the first mate, told him that only a week before they had rescued such a boat. It had been boarded by pirates, the passengers robbed, women raped, others wounded. The pirate ship was ramming the smaller boat to destroy all evidence when the rescue ship appeared and they fled.
First the wounded had to be tended to. Then the rescued needed to be fed, bathed, and allowed to rest. Later they were told of Jesus and His love.
One mother on board with several small children saw her baby die. There was nothing to do but put the tiny body overboard and watch it float away. A few days later the next child died. Once more the mother had to watch the little body floating away into the sea.
Ha Jimmy looked at Franklin, his eyes dark with fatigue, and asked, “Franklin, after all she had been through, if I hadn’t given her Jesus, what had I really done for her?”
God can use a sensitive Christian to be a rich blessing in the life of one who knows pain and sorrow. Scripture provides guidelines for those who are in a position to help someone suffering.
Someone has said, “To have suffered much is like knowing many languages: It gives the sufferer access to many more people.” Lord, help me to use any suffering I might be called upon to endure in that positive fashion.
Our Father and our God, when I think of Your Son’s horrible suffering on the cross, I know my own pain is so small. Help me to endure my trials with faith and hope because of the suffering He endured for me. And help me to give the comfort I have received from You to others in pain. In Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Surrender Self
[Jesus said,] Whoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.
Mark 8:34–35
A police sergeant once asked me the secret of victorious Christian living. I told him there is no magic formula. But if any one word could describe it, it would be surrender.
You may ask, “Billy, how can I surrender my life?” It is surrendered in the same way that salvation comes to the sinner. There needs to be a confession of sin and a complete yielding of every area of life, personality, and will to Jesus Christ—plus faith that Christ will accept that commitment. It is not enough for us to have been confirmed or to have made a decision for Christ at an altar. We cannot walk successfully in the glow of that experience for the rest of our lives. Being human, we need to return and renew those vows and covenants with the Lord. We need to take inventory and have spiritual checkups.
Today Christ is calling Christians to cleansing—to dedication—to consecration—to full surrender. Your response will make the difference between success and failure in your spiritual life. It will make the difference between your needing help and being able to help others.
It will revolutionize your habits, your prayer life, your Bible reading, your giving, your testimony, and your church relationship. This is the Christian’s hour of decision!
If you are a Christian and have been suffering defeat, or have been outside the will of God, or do not know the power and thrill and joy that Christ can bring, I beg of you to surrender every area of your life. Give yourself wholly to Christ.
Our Father and our God, I surrender my heart and my life to You. For I know You can accept nothing less than a full surrender in order to save me from my sins, which I confess to You now. Redeem me, Father, so that I can help lead others to Your redemption as well. In the name of Christ, the great Redeemer. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Cross for Christians
For from within, out of the heart . . . come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man.
Mark 7:21–23 RSV
Jesus indicated that our problem is heart trouble. The greatest need of our great cities at this moment is evangelism. The apostle Paul stood in the heart of pagan, secular, immoral, and violent Corinth and said, “We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks [Gentiles] foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23–24).
The proclamation of the Gospel is still the desperate need of men today. We are never going to reverse the moral trends without a spiritual awakening, and we are never going to have a spiritual awakening until the cross of Jesus Christ is central in all our teaching, preaching, and practice.
David Brainerd, in the journal of his life and work among the American Indians, said, “I never got away from Jesus and Him crucified. And I found that when my people were gripped by this great evangelical doctrine of Christ and Him crucified, I had no need to give them instructions about morality. I found that one followed as the sure and inevitable fruit of the other.”
Dorothy Sayers says, “We have been trying for several centuries to uphold a particular standard of ethical values which derives from Christian dogma, while gradually dispensing with the very dogma which is the sole foundation for those values. If we want Christian behavior, then we must realize that Christian behavior is rooted in Christian belief.”
As Spurgeon points out, “There are no crown-wearers in heaven who were not cross-bearers here below.”
Our Father and our God, I bow in shame at the foot of the cross, knowing my sins and shortcomings are many. And yet I hold my head up boldly because of Christ crucified and His blotting out my sins on that cross. Your loving-kindness and great mercy give me unwarranted peace and comfort. Thank You, Father, in the name of Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
Christ’s Example
And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.
Mark 6:46
One of the most amazing things in all the Scriptures is how much time Jesus spent in prayer. He had only three years of public ministry, yet Jesus was never too hurried to spend hours in prayer. He prayed before every difficult task confronting Him. He prayed with regularity—not a day began or closed on which He did not unfold His soul before His Father.
How quickly and carelessly, by contrast, we pray. Snatches of memorized verses are hastily spoken in the morning; then we say good-bye to God for the rest of the day, until we rush through a few closing petitions at night.
This is not the prayer program that Jesus outlined. Jesus pleaded long and repeatedly. It is recorded that He spent entire nights in fervent appeal.
How little perseverance and pleading we show. Some time ago the newspapers told of a man in Washington who spent seventeen years securing favorable action on a claim of $81,000 against the government. Yet many people will not pray seventeen minutes for the welfare of their own immortal souls or the salvation of other people.
The Scripture says, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17). This should be the motto of every true follower of Jesus Christ. Never stop praying, no matter how dark and hopeless your case may seem. Some years ago, a woman wrote me that she had pleaded for ten years for the conversion of her husband, but that he was more hardened than ever. I advised her to continue to plead.
Some time later I heard from her again. She said her husband was gloriously and miraculously converted in the eleventh year of her prayer vigil. That’s what it means to “pray without ceasing.”
Who have you prayed for lately?
Our Father and our God, hear my prayer. I have prayed often to You about my problems, and I come again comitting them to You. And I will continue to do so, because I believe that You will hear me and grant my plea—in Your perfect time and in Your perfect way. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Crucible of Suffering
I will not leave you comfortless.
John 14:18
Nowhere has God promised anyone, even His children, immunity from sorrow, suffering, and pain. This world is a “vale of tears,” and disappointment and heartache are as inevitable as clouds and shadows. Suffering is often the crucible in which our faith is tested. Those who successfully come through the “furnace of affliction” are the ones who emerge “like gold tried in the fire.”
The Bible teaches unmistakably that we can triumph over bereavement. The Psalmist said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Self-pity can bring no enduring comfort. This fact is, it will only add to our misery. And unremitting grief will give us little consolation in itself, for grief begets grief. Ceaseless grieving will only magnify our sorrow. We should not peddle our sorrows and bewail our bad fortune—that will only depress others. Sorrow, or mourning, when it is borne in a Christian way, contains a built-in comfort. “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
There is comfort in mourning because we know that Christ is with us. He has said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Suffering is endurable if we do not have to bear it alone; and the more compassionate the Presence, the less acute the pain.
Our Father and our God, through faith I feel Your arms around me, holding me, comforting me in my times of sorrow and trial. Thank You, Father, for always being here with me, in good times and in bad. I love You and I want to reflect Your glory to my family, my friends, my community, and the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
The Crucible of Suffering
I will not leave you comfortless.
John 14:18
Nowhere has God promised anyone, even His children, immunity from sorrow, suffering, and pain. This world is a “vale of tears,” and disappointment and heartache are as inevitable as clouds and shadows. Suffering is often the crucible in which our faith is tested. Those who successfully come through the “furnace of affliction” are the ones who emerge “like gold tried in the fire.”
The Bible teaches unmistakably that we can triumph over bereavement. The Psalmist said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
Self-pity can bring no enduring comfort. This fact is, it will only add to our misery. And unremitting grief will give us little consolation in itself, for grief begets grief. Ceaseless grieving will only magnify our sorrow. We should not peddle our sorrows and bewail our bad fortune—that will only depress others. Sorrow, or mourning, when it is borne in a Christian way, contains a built-in comfort. “Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
There is comfort in mourning because we know that Christ is with us. He has said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” (Matthew 28:20). Suffering is endurable if we do not have to bear it alone; and the more compassionate the Presence, the less acute the pain.
Our Father and our God, through faith I feel Your arms around me, holding me, comforting me in my times of sorrow and trial. Thank You, Father, for always being here with me, in good times and in bad. I love You and I want to reflect Your glory to my family, my friends, my community, and the world. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
God’s Overarching Love
[Jesus said:] I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:20 NIV
This is a promise for obedient disciples, and it is marvelously inclusive. Dr. Handley Moule, sometime Anglican bishop of Durham, England, and a noted Greek scholar, maintained that the always could be paraphrased to mean, “I am with you all the days, all day long.” That means we can count on Christ’s presence not only every day, but every moment of every day. Of the fact of His presence there can be no doubt, for His Word cannot fail. What we need is to cultivate the sense of His presence, every day, every hour, every moment.
Some years ago my wife, Ruth, had a terrible fall. She suffered a concussion, was unconscious for nearly a week, broke her foot in five places, and injured her hip. When she regained consciousness she found she had lost a great deal of her memory. What disturbed her most was that she had forgotten so many of the Scriptures she had learned throughout the years. The verses of a whole lifetime were more precious to her than all earthly possessions.
One night when she was praying, because she was so distressed, out of nowhere came the verse, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love.” She had no recollection of ever memorizing this verse, but the Lord brought it back to her. Gradually, other verses began to come back. But interestingly, while she was still trying to recover her memory, she memorized Romans 8:31–39 and repeated those verses over and over again.
I urge you to memorize this passage. Hide it away in your heart. When persecution, trouble, and adversity arise, these verses will come back to you a thousand times and remind you of God’s overarching love personified in His Son, our Savior.
Our Father and our God, thank You for always being with me—every moment of every hour of every day. And thank You for the comfort and encouragement of Your Word. It speaks to my heart when my heart is hurting. It cries with me and laughs with me. Your Word is my dearest friend, Lord. Let me share it with others. Because of Christ. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).
It’s Not Too Late
Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations . . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.
Matthew 28:20
I sometimes think our world is on the threshold of a mighty, world-wide spiritual awakening and harvest. This is a glorious time to be alive.
I I have found that people everywhere, all over the world, will respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ if we present it simply, with Christian compassion. Yet there are some who are in deep despair. I receive letters daily from people who are discouraged, depressed, and ready to give up. They are yielding to the pessimism of our times, to the mood and spirit of our day. A man in England wrote, “It’s too late to do anything about the world.”
That isn’t true. All is not lost. We still have the Bible, and “the word of God is not bound” (2 Timothy 2:9). We still have the Holy Spirit. We still have the fellowship of believers. We still have the prayers of God’s people. We still have an open door to most of the world for proclaiming the gospel.
Our Father and our God, You have sent Your precious Son to save us. What glorious news! Please help me to share that Good News with people around me and around the world. Tune my heart, Lord, to the beauty of Your truth. And let my life be a song of praise to You and Your Son. Amen.
Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).